Rejoice! American Industrial Black Metallers Invertia have returned! Their new album, the venomously mesmeric “Another Scheme For The Wicked” has descended upon us.

Opening track “The Sidewinding” spews forth from the speakers, all fractured melody, tinny drums, and cavernous vocal snarls. The sheer venom of the track is juxtaposed with ecclesiastic samples. It is a true face-melter of a track. Track two is “Cross Eyed Christ”, all militaristic rumble and bowels-of-the-earth bellowing underpinning some sumptuous Death Metal riffing. “Void Of Community”, a track bursting with discordant menace, perfectly capturing the essence of what makes Black Metal such captivating music, follows this. Track four, “Hourglass Without Sand” is played at a more measured pace, syncopated and dripping with dread. The doom-laden breakdown at the songs midpoint sounds like the apocalypse in slow motion. “They’re Everywhere” is next. It is an unrelenting explosion of rage, threatening to aurally disembowel the listener for it’s duration.

The remaining five tracks are remixes, and are not as impressive as their counterparts. The most impressive of them is Justin Broadrick’s remix of “The Sidewinding”, which retains the peril of the original source material. The remainder only serve to make the album sag. The feral nature of the tracks in their primary state is lost, their quintessence stripped. Metaphorically it is though their venom sacs have been removed.

As a whole “Another Scheme Of The Wicked” is a very impressive statement of intent. It had all the makings of a hypnotic masterpiece, and without the disappointing remixes, it would have been.